Chapter Forty-Five
Gemma
The second the headmaster left me standing in the middle of a rowdy bonfire, I frantically began searching the crowd for Mercedes, since Sloane was in detention, but then I stopped and froze. Isaiah’s piercing stare snagged through the fiery flames. Embers danced throughout the wind, floating up to the sky before fading to black. The leaves crunched underneath my shoes, and it was the only indication that I was moving toward him instead of finding Mercedes.
What was I doing?
His eyes flared brighter as his lips tipped. The smallest dimple appeared on his right cheek, and it wasn’t a dimple that I saw often. It really never came out unless we were alone in the library, pretending to be busy as he jabbed me with sly remarks and cocky comebacks to my chiding about doing his homework. He may not need actual tutoring, but he did need a little push to do the assignments.
“Hey,” he said as he held his phone in his grip. I didn’t think he’d moved even an inch in the time it took me to walk over to him.
“Hi,” I squeaked before clearing my throat.
“What took you so long?” Isaiah glanced behind me, phone still resting in his hand. “I was beginning to get worried.”
Something tender poked my heart as Isaiah took another step toward me. “Worried you’ll flunk without your tutor?” I grinned.
“That’s not at all why I was worried.” His gaze jolted down to my mouth, and my light and airy attitude was replaced with something much more intense and jarring.
I glanced out to the fire, briefly looking at some of our classmates, who were all dressed in St. Mary’s lacrosse apparel instead of their school uniforms like me, before landing on Bain. His body was angled toward Isaiah and me, but he wasn’t looking. A pretty, fair-haired girl was wrapped around his side with her head resting on his shoulder, and I wondered what she saw in such an untrustworthy person.
Isaiah stepped beside me, his phone screen bright as he texted someone. I only glanced at his screen for a moment before looking out at the fire again and explaining where I was. “I was checking in with my uncle. That’s why I was late.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as Isaiah’s shoulders stiffened. He was wearing a white St. Mary’s lacrosse shirt that fit snugly around the wide berth of his shoulders, and it really did nothing but accentuate the tense way his muscles locked. I leaned forward some and saw that Brantley was also staring out into the fire, but his jaw was rocking back and forth like a ticking time bomb. That wasn’t really unusual. Brantley always seemed a little on edge, but both of them? After I mentioned that I was checking in with my uncle? That was something that caught my attention. They were skilled with keeping a hold on their body language; the shift was barely noticeable. But Sloane’s assumptions were correct: the Rebels had secrets. It was all part of their allure.
“That’s right,” Isaiah said seconds later. “It’s Monday.”
“Yep,” I replied, pushing the thought of Richard and his phone call clear out of my head. It wasn’t a lengthy conversation. A few hidden threats thrown in when he’d asked how my classes were. He reminded me that my birthday was soon approaching—as if I could forget—and that was about it. The only decent part of the conversation was that he didn’t make me call him Daddy this time, which was a relief because, although I knew Headmaster Ellison had heard me say it last time, it would have been extremely awkward to say it in front of him, and I wasn’t so sure he’d let it slide. He’d ask questions. Questions I wouldn’t have answered.
“And how was that?” Isaiah asked. My skin grew warm, and it had nothing to do with the fact that the fire was growing larger and larger. I took a step back, leaves crunching under my shoe again. Isaiah matched my steps, staying in stride with me.
“It was fine.”
He chuckled sarcastically. “Look me in the eye and say that.”
Slowly, I turned my head and met his intense stare. His chin was raised, that same chin that looked as if it were made from granite, and his eyes gleamed so intently it was like he was trying to reach inside and pull all my secrets out, one by one. I searched his face long and hard before lying again. “It was fine.”
His cheek twitched. “And here I thought good girls didn’t lie.”
A laugh tumbled out of my mouth as I turned back to the fire. I didn’t understand how he could make me smile after having thoughts of Richard in my head, but here we were. If only I could take him with me when I left. Maybe then I’d be able to sleep without shit haunting me.
Isaiah’s phone vibrated in his hand again as a small smile played on his lips. There was laughter in the air, mixed with the scent of burnt wood, and I felt as if my chest cracked open with light. Isaiah was glancing down to his phone with a hint of smile still there as I turned my head away from him, realizing right then how lucky I was to be standing there underneath the stars and moon with a ginormous school at my back that held a sense of safety so large I could hardly even fathom it.
I felt safe here.
I hadn’t felt safe since Tobias left. I hadn’t even really felt safe before then either.
It wouldn’t last forever, but each day here felt a little more like home, and that made me feel warm. Even if it was only for a second.
“Jack?” Isaiah’s voice cut through the happiness churning through my blood, and just like that, it was gone. When I turned toward him again, I saw the blood drain from his face. The healthy glow of his cheeks that were full of innocent laughter seconds ago was no longer there. Instead, it was an ashen gray with shadows of pure panic etching the curves.
“Isaiah?” I asked, not even realizing I’d reached out and placed my hand on his arm. “Are you—” The words died before I could finish. Terror pinched in between his brows as his eyes dipped to mine. “I need my uncle.”
I didn’t question him. I quickly swept around and found Headmaster Ellison standing with a few other teachers near a table that held some drinks. He was mid-sentence when I interjected myself, trying to appear calm on the outside, but I was twisted on the inside. I’d seen that look before. That look of dread and unease. I’d seen it in the mirror one too many times. I was right there beside Isaiah, feeling what he was feeling.
Only I had no idea why he was feeling it.
“Gemma?”